Initiative unveiled to develop city neighborhoods

EVANSTON, OH (FOX19) - City officials announced a new initiative Monday geared towards increasing home ownership and developing Cincinnati neighborhoods hurt by vacancy and abandonment.

Come Home Cincinnati will establish a loan guarantee pool in specific neighborhoods to support redevelopment. It will start with 100 homes in the pilot neighborhoods of Evanston and Walnut Hills.

City leaders say as resources grow, the initiative will expand to all eight focus neighborhoods: Avondale, College Hill, Evanston, Madisonville, Northside, Price Hill, South Cumminsville and Walnut Hills.

"Just about a year ago, we were in Evanston to talk about their housing strategy for the Woodburn Ave. corridor and what to do about the 200 vacant and abandoned properties in the community," Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls said during the announcement. "The next logical step on the path to revitalization is to incentivize private market investment in the residential core of our neighborhoods, and help to fill the once abandoned homes with new owner-occupants. The Come Home Cincinnati initiative will give Evanston and other hard-hit neighborhoods another tool to support redevelopment and grow Cincinnati's population."

The press conference was held in front of a land bank-owned property at 3351 Woodburn Avenue, one of the key redevelopment corridors in Evanston.